Constitutional US Law

Tag: Art. 1. Sec. 1

  • Contempt

    Sanctions of the Investigatory Power: ContemptExplicit judicial recognition of the right of either house of Congress to commit for contempt a witness who ignores its summons or refuses to answer its inquiries dates from McGrain v. Daugherty.1 But the…

  • Source of Congressional Investigations Power

    Source of the Power to Investigate (Congressional Investigations)No provision of the Constitution expressly authorizes either house of Congress to pursue investigations and compel testimony in order to exercise its legislative functions. But such a power was frequently exercised by both the British …

  • Separation of Powers Theory

    Separation of Powers: The Theory Elaborated and ImplementedThe Constitution grants three broad powers&emdash;legislative, executive and judicial&emdash;but it does not contain an express requirement that the boundaries between these powers be preserved; nor does it expressly mandate a requirement fo…

  • Permissible Delegations

    The Nature and Scope of Permissible DelegationsThe early Court suggested alternative theories to justify sustaining delegations. The first theory is that Congress may legislate contingently, leaving to others the task of ascertaining the facts that bring its declared policy into operation.<a name=t1…

  • Permissible Delegations Conflict Authority.

    Conflict Between State or Federal Statutes and Delegated Authority.A rule or regulation properly promulgated under authority received from Congress is law, and under the supremacy clause of the Constitution can preempt state law.1 Further, in exercis…

  • Permissible Delegations Details

    Filling Up the Details.In finding a power to "fill up the details," the Court in Wayman v. Southard 1 rejected the contention that Congress had unconstitutionally delegated power to the federal courts to establish their own rules of practic…

  • Permissible Delegations Legislation

    Permissible Delegations Contingent LegislationAn entirely different problem arises when, instead of directing another department of government to apply a general statute to individual cases, or to supplement it by detailed regulation, the Congress passes contingent legislation. Under such legislatio…

  • Permissible Delegations Standards

    Permissible Delegations StandardsImplicit in the concept of filling in the details is the idea that there is some intelligible guiding principle or framework to apply. Indeed, the requirement that Congress set forth "intelligible principles" or "standards" to guide as well as lim…

  • Protection of Witnesses Constitutional Guarantees

    Congressional Investigations in Aid of Legislation – Protection of Witnesses; Constitutional Guarantees"[T]he Congress, in common with all branches of the Government, must exercise its powers subject to the limitations placed by the Constitution on governmental action, more particularly in the …

  • Protection of Witnesses Pertinency

    Congressional Investigations in Aid of Legislation – Protection of Witnesses; Pertinency and Related MattersA witness appearing before a congressional committee is entitled to require of the committee a demonstration of its authority to inquire into his activities and a showing that the questions as…

  • Individual Liberties

    Delegation of Legislative Power and Individual LibertiesSome Justices have argued that delegations by Congress of power to affect the exercise of "fundamental freedoms" by citizens must be closely scrutinized to require the exercise of a congressional judgment about meaningful standards.<a…

  • Investigations in Aid of Legislation

    Congressional Investigations in Aid of Legislation PurposeBeginning with a resolution adopted by the House of Representatives in 1827, which vested its Committee on Manufactures "with the power to send for persons and papers with a view to ascertain and report to this House in relation to a rev…

  • Investigations of Executive Department

    Congressional Investigations of Conduct of Executive DepartmentFor many years the investigating function of Congress was limited to inquiries into the administration of the Executive Department or of instrumentalities of the Government. Until the administration of Andrew Jackson this power was not s…

  • Investigations of Members of Congress

    Congressional Investigations of Members of CongressWhen either House exercises a judicial function, as in judging of elections or determining whether a member should be expelled, it is clearly entitled to compel the attendance of witnesses to disclose the facts upon which its action must be based. T…

  • Judicial Enforcement

    Judicial EnforcementThe difficulty for the Court in policing the separation of powers lies in its efforts to both maintain the theoretical separation of branches while accommodating the practical need for some intermixture of governmental functions.1 …